Products such as jackets and other garments are often formed from multi-layered constructions made up of a plurality of fabrics. Often, pieces of material commonly referred to as baffles separate the various layers of the construction from one another. For example, these baffles may be provided between the two outer-most layers of a construction to create air chambers, into which material such as down may be added. These baffles have simple shapes with a rectangular profile in order to facilitate ease of manufacturing and placement.
Conventional baffles have several shortcomings, however. In general, they do nothing to add to the overall strength of the construction, acting instead of as mere spacers for various layers of material. Additionally, typical baffles have a single thickness throughout. This substantially limits the functional aspects of the product into which the baffle is inserted. For example, a designer of a jacket cannot easily pack more down material into the middle chest area of the jacket, while providing less down material at the edges, without the resulting product being misshapen.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved multi-layered constructions that include baffles capable of providing additional strength and design flexibility to the construction.